


the one where they cosplay

by singingwithoutwords



Series: Imagine Tony and Rhodey [4]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Conventions, Cosplay, Photography, Pre-Slash, shippers made them do it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-17
Updated: 2015-06-17
Packaged: 2018-04-04 21:07:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4153008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/singingwithoutwords/pseuds/singingwithoutwords
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on a prompt from the <a href="http://imaginetonyandrhodey.tumblr.com/">Imagine Tony and Rhodey</a> blog:</p>
<p>Tony and Rhodey cosplay as their favorite comic book heroes, Iron Man and War Machine.  The Iron Machine shippers find them, and who are they to disappoint the fans, even if they've never kissed before?</p>
            </blockquote>





	the one where they cosplay

“Oh my God, I love your costumes!”

Tony glanced up from the remains of his burger and fries at the knot of young women standing next to their table.  They were all weighed down with bags of merchandise, all with completely unnatural hair colors and the kind of clothing that would only be considered practical or comfortable in a comic book: obviously, fellow con-goers.

“Yeah, those are totally the best ones we’ve seen all day,” the one in the handmade Viper costume said.

“I can only assume that’s because you lovely ladies haven’t happened across any mirrors yet,” Tony said, smiling.

“Oh my God, that was corny,” Rhodey groaned from the other side of the booth.  “If you weren’t wearing metal pants right now, I would  _so_  kick you.”

“We don’t mind corny,” the Storm cosplayer said quickly.  “Please, be as corny as you want.”

The girl in the Gamora get-up laughed, elbowing Storm in the side.  “Ignore her, she has no brain-to-mouth-filter.  And a boyfriend.  Anyway, we were wondering if you’d be okay with us taking a few pictures?  Once you’re done eating?”

Tony turned to Rhodey, who polished off his shake and winced as if he’d just tried to shrug.  “Fine by me.”

“Lead the way, ladies,” Tony said, standing and collecting his helmet and gauntlets.  Rhodey did likewise, and they headed out of McDonald’s, looking for a clear space.

After all the practice they’d had already, Tony was actually starting to find these amateur photo shoots fun.  He got to show off his incredibly well-made costume, joke around with Rhodey, and secretly in the back of his mind live out childish fantasies of actually being Iron Man.

They went through the usual fight poses, briefly teaming up with a Deadpool cosplayer against Viper.  They’d actually drawn a bit of a crowd by that point, and people started shouting suggestions.  They had to take the helmets off partway through, to a bit of muttering because apparently black people weren’t allowed to cosplayer characters whose name, age, ethnicity, _et cetera_ , were all completely unknown.

After at least half an hour, Rhodey warned they were only going to do one last pose, then they needed a break.

“Ooh, ooh, do the end of the first Black Dragon arc!” Gamora insisted, to Viper’s enthusiastic agreement and Storm’s obvious exasperation.

Tony and Rhodey shared a glance.  They knew the scene, of course; who didn’t remember the first time Iron Man had died?  Seemed a bit prosaic, but why not?

Which was how Tony wound up on his back in the middle of a parking lot with his eyes closed and Rhodey’s forehead pressed against his.  Had the scene felt this shippy to him when he’d read it?  He couldn’t remember.

Quietly, someone - who sounded suspiciously like that Deadpool cosplayer from earlier - began to chant, “Kiss.  Kiss.  Kiss.  Kiss.”

Viper took up the chant, and so did Gamora, and a few other people, and Tony felt Rhodey shift over him.  Tony cracked one eye open; Rhodey was biting his lip, looking thoughtful.

“Do you-” Rhodey said, clearing his throat.  “I mean… honestly, I always kind of thought they-”

“Me, too.  I mean, there’s obviously a bond there, so why not-”

“Yeah.  It can’t hurt, right?  It’s just a kiss.”

“Just a kiss,” Tony agreed, closing his eyes again.  Just a kiss.  For the sake of the shippers.  He could do this.  Nothing to it.

There was actual cheering when Rhodey planted one on him, and Tony discovered two things: one, what it felt like for his heart to skip a beat; and two, Rhodey was a damn good kisser.

Tony halfway paid attention to standing up and saying good-bye to the dispersing crowd, waiting until they were alone to clear his throat.  “So.”

“Yeah.”  Rhodey agreed.

“That was…”

“Yeah.”

“I’m… we should… talk.”

“Yeah.”

“Back at the hotel?”  He glanced at Rhodey out of the corner of his eye.

Rhodey smiled at him, kind of shy and hopeful, and nodded.  “Yeah.”


End file.
